Dhoni wants to be tested in typical English conditions

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni insists he wants his side exposed to classic English conditions during the remainder of the tourists' five-match series after the first Test at Trent Bridge ended in stalemate. On a pitch that was arguably slower and lower than many Indian surfaces, the tourists ground out a draw against England in the first Test at Trent Bridge.

For the first time in 137 years of Test cricket both teams saw their last-wicket pair enjoy three-figure partnerships, with England's Joe Root (154 not out) and James Anderson (81) sharing a Test record tenth-wicket stand of 198, eclipsing the 111 put on earlier in the match by India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar (58) and Mohammed Shami (51 not out).

Primarily a seam bowler, Kumar was 63 not out in India's second innings, having twice improved his highest Test score this match, as the tourists batted through the whole of Sunday's final day for a total of 391 for nine declared. In between, Kumar took a Test-best five for 82 in England's 496 after finding some rare movement on a deadening pitch that made life exceptionally tough for the quicker bowlers.

India have only won three Test series in England, in 1971, 1986 and 2007, while Sunday's result made it 15 consecutive Tests without an away win. But after a match where the pitch did little for either side, Dhoni insisted he wanted to see a different environment at Lord's, where the second Test starts on Thursday.

"I always said that when you come to a country you want to play on a wicket that is the speciality of that country," Dhoni told reporters.

"There's no fun in going to India and having a flat wicket where people can score 200 or 250 runs, but it's very good if you score a hundred on a turning track. England is not known for fast wickets but here it's more about swing and overcast conditions, and that's the speciality here. It is more about swing. That's what you want to see," the Indian skipper said.

While India were in a good position before the Root-Anderson stand, there were precariously placed when they lost three quick wickets on Day 5.

When asked about the lower order's contribution in this game, Dhoni said: "That's a part and parcel of the game, and it doesn't really matter who has scored runs or taken wickets because at the end of the day it is a team game and you go with the strategy of winning the game. It doesn't really matter if No. 11 is scoring the runs or No. 7 is scoring the runs. Overall, it is important that we have put runs on the board, and we need to defend that. But (there are) plenty of positives we can take out of this game."

While he did not do much in the first innings, Stuart Binny came up with a superb effort to help India save the match. He was involved in a crucial partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, that helped India recover.

Speaking about the 65-run stand for the 7th wicket, Dhoni said: "That was a very important partnership looking at the game because we were not really safe at that time," Dhoni said. "We had at least half a day's play or more at that stage. Had it not been for that partnership we could have struggled to defend the amount of runs we had scored at that stage. That partnership was much needed."

"The other good thing about that partnership is that not many of our players have the experience of batting under pressure and save a Test match if the need arises. Games like this really gives them the exposure and teaches them what really needed to be done. I feel it is nice that some individuals stood up when the pressure was put on us," he added.

Stuart Binny, who was the additional bowler in the line-up, bowled only 10 overs. When asked about that, Dhoni said: "The wicket was not suiting Stuart Binny's kind of bowling. Jadeja could use the rough on the wicket, so I was not really forced to give too many overs to Binny. So, overall I though it helped me to keep the bowlers fresh. Though Stuart bowled only 10 overs, I felt it was a good effort from his side. As the series progresses, we will watch him as he is someone who can swing the ball well, and can give rest to the other bowlers, and he will be more effective on pitches that offer some assistance to the bowlers."